Washington:
The US is poised to provide Saudi Arabia with a weapons package worth well over $100 billion. Six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters that proposals were lined up during President Donald Trump’s visit to the kingdom in May.
The package provided comes after former President Joe Biden’s failed management after attempting to finalise a defense agreement with Riyadh as part of a broader deal that envisages Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel.
Biden’s proposal provided more advanced access to US arms in return for halting Chinese weapons purchases and limiting Beijing’s investment in the country. Reuters could not establish whether the Trump administration’s proposal includes similar requirements.
The White House, the Pentagon and Saudi government communications offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his first term, Trump celebrated the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, good for our work.
Rockheed Martin Corp can supply a variety of advanced weapons systems, including C-130 transport aircraft, two sources say. According to one source, Lockheed said it would also supply missiles and radar.
RTX Corp, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is also expected to play an important role in the packaging. This includes supplies from other major US defense contractors such as Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Atomics.
All sources were rejected names for names due to sensitivity to the problem.
Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop, and General Atomics declined to comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters could not immediately establish that the number of deals offered was new. Many people have been working for a while, two sources said. For example, they said the Kingdom first requested information about atomic drones in 2018. Over the past 12 months, contracts for General Atomics’ $20 billion MQ-9B Seaguardian-style drones and other aircraft have focused, according to one of the sources.
Several executives from the defense company are considering travelling to the area as part of the delegation, three sources said.
The US has long been supplying Saudi Arabia with arms. In 2017, Trump proposed to the kingdom to sell around $110 billion.
As of 2018, $14.5 billion in sales had begun, and Congress began to question the deal in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2021, under Biden, Congress imposed a ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia over the killing of Khashoggi, and pressured the kingdom to defeat the Yemeni war.
Under US law, major international weapons trades must be reviewed before Congress is finalized.
The Biden administration began to ease its stance on Saudi Arabia in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affected the global oil supply. The ban on the sale of offensive weapons was lifted in 2024 as Washington worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 attack to devise a postwar Gaza plan.
The potential deal on Lockheed’s F-35 jets, which the Kingdom has reportedly been of interest for many years, is expected to be debated, three of the sources said they downplayed the possibility that F-35 deals would be signed during the trip.
The US guarantees that Israel has received more advanced American arms than Arab countries, and that its neighbors are labelled “qualitative military ties” (QME).
Israel has now owned the F-35 for nine years and has built multiple squadrons.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published by Syndicate Feed.)
